Nov. 12, 2005

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

2005 Notre Dame Football In-Game Notes
Notre Dame vs. Navy
Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005 * Notre Dame Stadium * Notre Dame, Ind.

Notre Dame 42, Navy 21

Weather information: Sunny, 62 degrees, 79% humidity, winds out of the south at 18 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Forecast: Sunny, high in the upper 60s.

NOTRE DAME TEAM NOTES:

Notre Dame’s captains this afternoon were senior Brandon Hoyte (defense), junior Brady Quinn (offense) and junior Tom Zbikowski (special teams). The special team’s captain is selected by the Irish coaching staff week-to-week (this week marks Zbikowski’s third special teams captaincy). Hoyte and Quinn were selected as season-long captains by their teammates. Notre Dame won the toss and elected to receive, Navy defended the south goal.

Notre Dame and Navy met for the 79th time today, marking the longest intersectional continuous rivalry in the nation. The Irish now lead the all-time series 69-9-1 and have won 42 consecutive games (the current NCAA record for consecutive wins against one opponent).

Notre Dame has now won 12 consecutive games against service academies (Navy, Air Force, Army) and boasts an overall record of 126-22-5 against those three teams.

Navy’s first scoring drive was the longest in time elapsed (7:45) and plays (16) against Notre Dame this season.

With 42 points in today’s game, Notre Dame has now scored over 30 points in seven consecutive games. The 2005 and 1966 teams are the only other Notre Dame squads since 1913 to score 30 points in seven straight games. Overall, Notre Dame has scored 30 or more points in eight games this season. Since 1913, only the 1991 team scored 30 or more points more times, posting nine such performances. The 35 points are the most Notre Dame has scored against Navy since a 45-14 victory at the Citrus Bowl in 2000.

Also, Notre Dame has scored over 40 points six times this season, matching the school record from the 1991 and 1992 seasons.

Notre Dame piled up 505 yards worth of offense – the sixth 500-yard offensive performance this season. That matches the 1970 team’s school record for 500 yard performances.

Travis Thomas’ 14-yard touchdown run in the second quarter marked the first rushing touchdown for Notre Dame since Brady Quinn’s five-yard scamper in the fourth quarter against USC (nine quarters, 13 touchdowns – 10 passing, three returns).

NOTRE DAME PLAYER NOTES:

Junior QB Brady Quinn has thrown a touchdown pass in his last 14 games played (and started) for the Irish, extending his own school record. The Dublin, Ohio, native has totaled 35 scoring tosses during the run.

Quinn’s touchdown passes over the last 14 games:
2005 – 4 vs. Navy, 3 vs. Tennessee, 6 vs. BYU, 1 vs. USC, 3 at Purdue, 1 at Washington, 5 vs. Michigan State, 2 at Michigan, 2 at Pittsburgh
2004 – 2 vs. Oregon State (Insight Bowl), 1 at USC, 3 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 at Tennessee, 1 vs. Boston College

Quinn’s touchdown pass to Maurice Stovall in the third quarter was the 127th pass completion without an interception. That breaks the record that Carlyle Holiday (126) had posted during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. The streak ended at 130 completions in the fourth quarter.

Quinn’s touchdown pass to Maurice Stovall in the fourth quarter is the 53rd of his career, breaking Ron Powlus’ career mark of 52 from 1994-97.

Quinn tossed his 27th touchdown pass of the season today, extending his own single-season school record.

Quinn has thrown 19 touchdown passes in Notre Dame Stadium this season (5 vs. MSU, 1 vs. USC, 6 vs. BYU, 3 vs. Tennessee, 4 vs. Navy), which far surpasses the previous record of 11 by Ron Powlus in 1994 and Jarious Jackson in 1999.

With 284 yards passing in today’s game, Quinn has moved into first place on the single-season passing yardage list with 2,931. He surpassed Jarious Jackson’s record of 2,753 from 1999 in today’s game.

Senior WR Maurice Stovall’s three touchdown receptions in today’s game marked his seventh, eighth and ninth of the season, moving him into a tie for third on the single-season list at Notre Dame with Jack Snow (1964). Stovall’s teammate Jeff Samardzija is first on the list with 12 this season. The 2005 season marks the first in Notre Dame history that two Irish receivers will finish ranked in single-season top five for touchdown receptions. Stovall also has moved into a tie with Jim Seymour (1966-68) on the career touchdown reception list with 16.

Stovall finished the game with eight receptions for 130 yards – the eighth 100-yard receiving effort of the season for Notre Dame and fourth for Stovall (Samardzjia posted the other four). He has moved into sixth place on the career receiving yardage list with 1,842. He also moved into sixth place in career receptions with 111, passing Malcolm Johnson (110 from 1995-98) in today’s game.

With five catches in today’s game, junior WR Jeff Samardzija moves into fourth place on the single-season list at Notre Dame with 56 this season, trailing Tom Gatewood’s 77 catches from 1970.

Sophomore RB Darius Walker rushed for 118 yards on 19 carries today, his fifth 100-yard rushing performance of the season. The previous four came in Notre Dame’s first four games of the season. It marks the seventh 100 yard performance of his career.